Sunday, November 16, 2008

This is a growing list of names I will need for the Scales of War adventure path in Rokugan. It will cover places and people and the occasional historical fact as necessary. Perhaps it will evolve into the general conversion document. Who knows?

Kawa sano Saigo no Kamae (River of the Last Stand): This is the river at which Kuni Osaku cast her legendary Cresting Wave spell and held the Shadowland's horde back for 73 days while the Kaiu Wall was constructed on its far bank. During the battle, Hida Banuken swore he would not take another step back and the Shadowlands have never pushed further than River of the Last Stand.

Haikyo sano Kappa (Ruins of the Kappa): Once a strong fortress of the Crab Clan, the Kappa palace fell long ago to the Shadowlands. Now, it houses a great goblin city, shabbily rebuilt in a mockery of its original style. Dozens of tribes gather here to meet, haggle, debate, and fight in a hideous mockery of human society. Haikyo sano Kappa seems like a good location for Umbraforge.

Kuni Areno (Kuni Wastes): The reclaimed homelands of the Kuni family, this area is a flat plain of cracked mud and blowing dust where no living thing will grow. The only humans who live here are the Kuni who live alone in ramshackle huts. The odd Shadowlands creature wanders about, looking for lone travelers to prey upon. The Kuni Wastes are a possible location for Castle Rivenroar.

The Black Finger River and the River of the Dark Moon: Just north of Crab lands, the Kawa sano Saigo no Kamae forks. The eastern fork is the River of the Last Stand. The western fork splits once more into the above-named rivers. The Black Finger River is the furthest any Rokugani has traveled into the Shadowlands.

Yugure Yama (Twilight Mountains): The tough and rocky range in southwestern Crab lands that forms the border with the Shadowlands. The passes in the Yugure are garrisoned or booby-trapped and any wise traveler announces his intentions to the Crab and enters the mountains via the Kaiu Pass. The northern Yugure support a large number of tea plantations which grow much of Rokugan's tea supply.

Kaiu Roka (Carpenter Pass): The Kaiu Pass is the largest passageway through the Twilight Mountains. Many merchants, peddlers, and hucksters frequent the road leading to the pass, plying their wares to any who pass by. Anyone who wishes to sell along the road pays a tithe to the Yasuki and, in fact, many of the merchants are Yasuki themselves. It is the only reason the Crab tolerate their presence. Kaiu Roka is an obvious choice for Bordrin's Watch.

Midaki sano Mura (High Tree Village): A mining town abutting the Kuni Wastes. It is supposedly haunted by Shakoki Dogu, the spirit of the Twilight Mountains created when the entire Boar Clan was sacrificed to forge the Anvil of Despair. The villagers are scared to walk through their own village at night, let alone enter the mines. This could serve as Rivenroar but probably not.

Koten: The ancestral shrine of the Crab Clan. It was meant to outshine the Lion Clan's ancestral shrine but very few Crab samurai leave enough remains to be cremated and interred. Koten has been moved further north so that it is closer to Shiro Kuni and Kaiu Pass. It is the temple in Siege of Bordrin's Watch.

The artifacts left from the Battle of the Cresting Wave would lie in either Shiro Kuni or Kyuden Hida. The Maw's skull hangs from the gates of Kyuden Hida so it makes sense that the artifacts would be there. However, that means Rescue at Rivenroar would require the Shadowlands scouts to attack the Crab capital. Perhaps they sow chaos and destruction in the outlying village to draw the Crab forces while a few lone figures sneak into Kyuden Hida and steal the artifacts.